Apple lost its e-book antitrust trial last summer, but so far it hasn’t had to write any checks as part of its punishment. Now a plaintiff’s lawyer wants to deliver a bill: He says Apple should pay $840 million in damages.
Lawyer Wants Apple to Cough Up $840 Million in E-Books Case
Apple hasn’t paid any damages in the antitrust case it lost last summer. Here’s a suggested bill.
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Peter Kafka covered media and technology, and their intersection, at Vox. Many of his stories can be found in his Kafka on Media newsletter, and he also hosts the Recode Media podcast.
Steve Berman, an attorney representing consumers and 33 states who linked up with the U.S. government’s case against Apple, says Apple’s actions caused e-book buyers to spend an extra $280,254,374 after the introduction of Apple’s iPad and its iBooks Store. Berman says Apple should have to pay triple that number, and if you want to read his argument, you can find it below, via a letter he filed in court yesterday.
For context: Apple ended 2013 with nearly $159 billion in cash on its books, and generated profits of $13 billion in its last quarter.
Berman’s request comes before U.S. District Judge Denise Cote, who ruled against Apple last year, kicks off a damages trial. Meanwhile Apple is fighting Cote’s decision to assign a compliance monitor to the company to make sure it behaves itself, complaining that former federal prosecutor Michael Bromwich charges too much money, and is “acting like an FBI agent.” Last month Apple got a federal appeals court to hear its case.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
